Two Worlds
by Blacktide13
Summary: A woman's life changes when she is saved by a mysterious man with a katana for a weapon from a gang that has kidnapped her.  Who is this mysterious man, and why did he save her?  Read to find out.
1. Savior

**NOTE: **_This story takes place in the same Bleach universe, but in a different time period and with different main characters._

_This is my second fanfiction. I wasn't too happy with how my previous one turned out, so I decided to make a new one – one that will be hopefully more engaged and detailed as well as a pleasure to read. Feedback is always appreciated._

**TWO WORLDS**

_a Bleach fanfiction by Blacktide_

**Midnight. Karakura Town, Japan.**

"_No! Leave me alone!"_

Had it been the middle of the afternoon, or maybe early evening – these cries might have been heard by someone passing by. But, unfortunately, the denizens of this town were mostly sleeping, and those who weren't were most likely too busy with their own concerns to hear the ominous screaming that broke the silence of the night.

"'Fraid not, princess. You're ours now, and I think tonight is gonna be a lot o' fun. What'dya think, boys?"

All of the dark silhouettes in the alleyway chuckled and voiced their approval. A particulary tall – and, by the looks of it, muscular – man led the crowd, holding a helpless woman in his grip.

The woman reached towards her purse to get her pepper spray, only to find out that her purse had already been stolen by one of the gang members. Seeing this act of desperation, the burly man smiled.

"Now, now, there's no need for violence. Cooperate and we might not leave you scarred for life," the man stated as he turned around and nodded to the group of men behind him. They all began to leave the alley, while the woman tried to break the vise grip over her mouth and scream for help. After an effort that nearly left her unconscious in itself, she succeeded.

"_Help me! Please! Somebody!"_ she screamed.

Surprised but not beaten, the burly man hesitated and then simply grabbed her mouth again. "Ain't nobody gonna help you now, girl," he muttered into her ear.

The group had almost made it out of the alleyway when another silhouette blocked their path. Whatever it was, it was the size and shape of an average man. After taking a look around at the scene, he shouted in a commanding voice, "I suggest you put her down and step away."

The crowd of men was surprised and muttered among themselves, until their leader, with the girl in his hands, stepped out in front.

"And who the hell are you?" he asked the stranger, though it really didn't sound like much of a question, more of a demand for an answer.

"Oh, just somebody that was walking by and happened to hear a couple of cries for help. I don't suppose the one screaming like a small schoolgirl was you?"

The group of men laughed silently, but then their leader turned around to them and yelled "Shut up!" They immediately obeyed. The leader turned around again and pointed a finger at the stranger.

"Now listen here, you cocky little bastard. I'll let that one slide, provided you get your ass out of the way before we have to break every bone in your body," he said. The tone in his voice suggested he could've broken every bone in the stranger's body right then and there.

"No can do. And, judging by your attitude, I'm guessing you didn't hear my earlier suggestion. I normally don't approve of repeating myself to scum like you, but I suppose I'll do it this once; I suggest you put her down and step away."

That was the final straw for the leader. He didn't even hesitate; he yelled and began to run towards the stranger, pulling out his pocketknife and flipping it open. He lunged in to stab the man in the chest, but the stranger grabbed his wrist and twisted until a large snap echoed throughout the alley. The leader roared in pain at his broken wrist and dropped his knife. He tried to throw a punch with his other hand, but the stranger simply caught it before it got close and brought his knee up to connect with the leader's chin, effectively knocking him out. The rest of the men were completely surprised at the failure of their leader, but they recovered quickly and each began to pull out pistols they had been hiding under their coats. The woman, who by now had been grabbed by another member of the gang, broke free of his grasp and yelled, "Run! Don't sacrifice yourself for me, please!"

Then, in a movement so fast that the woman couldn't even see it, the stranger knocked out the man holding her with a quick blow to the abdomen. As if he hadn't even heard the woman, the stranger simply muttered, "Get behind me." She was too stunned to move, but somehow managed to crawl behind her protector. She looked up and saw the man drawing a katana. The woman had expected to see the entire gang burst out laughing – after all, what man can fight that many people armed with guns with just a sword? – but they didn't. They simply stood there as if nothing had happened. They all aimed and fired, and she waited for a cry of pain and the man to collapse in death, but what she saw next absolutely stunned her.

The man raised his sword and blocked every single one of the bullets. He angled his sword in a way that made the bullets ricochet off in the direction of the gang members, effectively turning their own bullets against them. Within seconds, the entire gang was laying on the ground. None were dead thanks to careful work by the stranger to only wound them, but they weren't getting up anytime soon.

The stranger sheathed his sword and turned around to the woman. "Come with me," was all he said, and she figured that it would be a wise choice to do so, but she didn't get the chance to obey; she lost consciousness, with her last sight being the stranger walking toward her.


	2. The Second World

The woman woke with a start. She had expected herself to still be lying in the alley – or even worse, with the gang members – but she wasn't. After looking around a bit, she realized she was in a bedroom. It wasn't in her own house; she didn't recognize anything in the room. She wasn't quite sure why she would be here, so she attempted to recall the events of last night, but was greeted by a searing headache that felt like it could crack open her skull. The woman attempted to get out of bed but found that her entire body ached. She groaned loudly as she collapsed down onto the bed. Then she heard the rattle of a doorknob and a door opening and prepared for the worst.

"Ah, I see you're awake. Good."

The woman opened her eyes and saw a tall, slender man in a striped shirt. His dark brown hair fell just above his eyes and he had a stern, unforgiving look about him. Despite his appearance, he wasn't intimidating in the least – as a matter of fact, he even seemed to radiate an aura of gentleness. The stranger kneeled next to the woman and felt her forehead, which revealed his rough, calloused hands.

"Do you feel alright?" the stranger asked her.

She tried to sit up and talk to him properly, but was once again greeted by immense pain shooting across her body. She collapsed onto the bed once more.

"Don't push yourself. You need rest. After yesterday, I'm not surprised. You were very brave," he whispered to her in a comforting voice that defied his serious look. "Would you like something to drink?"

She managed to open her mouth and mutter in a hoarse voice, "Water."

"Water it is."

With that, he got up and left the room, leaving the woman on her own. After trying to get up several more times, she finally decided to give up and wait until the man came back. It seemed like him getting the water took forever, until he finally returned. He walked up to the bed and raised the glass of ice water to her mouth.

"Drink slowly. If you go fast, you might end up choking."

She took a few gulps of the water and laid the glass down on the nightstand next to her. She found that the water strengthened her enough to sit up properly, even through the pain.

"Who... are you?" she asked the stranger.

"Name's Hikaru. A pleasure to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Yeah... thanks for saving me."

"All in a day's work. Say, would you mind telling me your name?"

"It's... Ayame."

"Well, Ayame, you look like you have the strength to move again. I would highly recommend you take a shower – or a bath, if that's what you prefer – to get your muscles relaxed so you can move properly without being in such pain. The reason you can barely move is because your muscles are as stiff as boards from exhaustion."

"Thank you, Hikaru. I think I'll take a bath."

"Very well. Meet me in the kitchen for some breakfast when you're ready."

Hikaru got up and walked out of the room. Ayame took another few gulps of water and then slowly got out of her bed and walked into the bathroom on the other side of the room. She didn't bother to look at herself in the mirror since she didn't want to see how bad she looked – instead walking right to the bathtub and running it full of hot water. She undressed and sunk in to the soothing water, immediately feeling a wave of relaxation wash over her. She figured she might be here for awhile...

After an hour or so, Ayame finally emerged out of the bathroom, strengthened enough to walk and talk properly but still exhausted. She walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Hikaru cooking pancakes and eggs. She took a closer look and realized that the man was actually American; that explained him cooking American food. Despite being born to American parents (and looking American in her own right), Ayame had grown up eating traditional Japanese food and only had American food on special occasions. Smelling the delicious food Hikaru was cooking made her notice how hungry she was, so she took a seat at the table as Hikaru plopped the pancakes onto the dish along with the eggs. He turned around and put the plate down in front of Ayame and took a seat of his own across from her.

It was the first timed Hikaru actually noticed how beautiful Ayame was. She looked like she was in her early twenties – maybe twenty-three, the same age as Hikaru – with long, brown hair that fell down to her lower back. She had a perfect figure – supermodel level, really – and a beautiful face. With the way she looked, he couldn't say he was surprised that the gang had kidnapped her. She was breathtaking. Hikaru shook the thoughts of her beauty out of his head and concentrated.

"Thank you, Hikaru. I really do appreciate you saving me and your hospitality."

"You're welcome. I'm just glad you're alright."

Ayame smiled. Hikaru could've sworn it made the room a little brighter.

"Hikaru... I meant to ask you something..."

"I assumed you would. Does it have anything to do with how I beat a gang armed with guns with my bare hands?"

"No – well, yes. But not with your bare hands. Why were you carrying a sword with you, and how did you block all of the bullets? It would take superhuman abilities to do something like that."

Hikaru was shocked. He wasn't expecting to hear something like that. She could see his sword? To any normal person, it would have merely looked like he dodged the bullets and dispatched the gang all at once. He remembered the gang didn't react when he drew his sword – as if they didn't even see it – so her seeing it was no simple fluke.

"You... could see the sword?"

"Yes... why wouldn't I be able to? A sword is a sword. You say that as if it's troubling to you..."

Hikaru reached down to his waist and pulled his katana out of a hidden sheathe in his pants that could easily be mistaken for a normal pocket. Ayame was startled by the sudden appearance of a sword at the kitchen table and got out of her chair and backed up a few steps.

"So you're saying that you can see this sword?"

"Yes! I said that already! Why wouldn't I be able to? Now put the sword away, please! It's quite uncomfortable having that around..."

Hikaru did as he was told, putting it back into the hidden pocket. This would be a long day of explaining what Ayame really was to her, but then something very, very odd happened.

* * *

To any normal person, it would have simply looked like the roof of the house collapsed due to some engineering fault, but to Hikaru – and more importantly, Ayame – what they saw was unexplainable. The roof was literally ripped off the house, and not by some magical hurricane – it was ripped off by a massive hand. Hikaru knew immediately what had happened. Ayame had to follow the hand to its arm and then follow its arm to reveal the monster it was connected to. She wasn't quite sure what to do; scream or run away. Not that she really had a choice – after all, her body was completely frozen in fear. The monster's body was completely pitch black, and it was connected to a head that looked more like a skull than any normal face. It was about as tall as a five-story building, and about as wide as a truck. Red eyes of hatred gleamed behind the skull of a face. And then it started talking in a voice that sounded very far away, as if it was a ghost.

"Mmmm... tasty souls. WHAT A FEAST!" it yelled as it swung its massive fist down onto Hikaru. The force of the punch sent a column of dirt and rubble flying into the air as a cloud of dust covered the area.

"HIKARU!" Ayame yelled as she inhaled a mouthful of dust and broke into a coughing fit. Her eyes began to water as the dust irritated them. She couldn't believe what just happened. An alien of some sort just destroyed the house in one punch, and it killed Hikaru. He might have blocked some bullets, but there was no way anyone could block, or for that matter, even survive a punch of that force. At least, that's what Ayame was thinking until she managed to open her eyes and bear the pain of the intense stinging and saw a dark silhouette in the smoke. At first she thought it was the monster's fist, but then it spoke.

"A Menos? That's it? And I just cleaned up the house, too..."

And then a massive force came down on Ayame's shoulders. She couldn't quite describe the feeling of it, but it smothered her and nearly stopped her ability to breathe, and was so heavy and dense that she fell to her knees. She looked up and saw that the cloud had cleared almost instantly – most likely from whatever force this was – and in the middle of it, with the massive fist of the monster in his bare hands, stood Hikaru.

Ayame was shocked. There was no way this man was human. He blocked bullets with sword and stopped a force powerful enough to shatter a house with his bare hands. Just who was this guy?

She watched as Hikaru flipped his sword out from its sheathe. As soon as it was firm in his grip, he threw the monster off its feet and across the street, and then turned to face Ayame.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to release my spiritual pressure so recklessly..." he said to her as the massive force slowly lifted off of her shoulders. She stood up and looked at Hikaru with a look that said _"Who in the hell are you?"_

Hikaru read through the look and simply raised his hands to his sides in innocence and said, "You'll find out soon enough."

By now, they were interrupted by a large force stirring behind them. Ayame looked past Hikaru and saw the monster – whatever it was – getting to its feet. It roared in anger and began to charge Hikaru, with each step causing the equivalent of a mini-earthquake.

"Hikaru! Watch out!" Ayame yelled over the sound of the monster approaching them. Hikaru merely smiled and turned around. The monster reached the house and wound up another punch, but then Hikaru disappeared completely, only to reappear behind the monster a split second later.

"Sorry, pal. No "feast" for you today." he said as the monster's skull head snapped in half and its entire body evaporated into thin air.

Ayame was at a loss for words. All she could do was stare blankly at Hikaru and hope that it was a dream.

Hikaru walked up to Ayame and smiled.

"I suppose an explanation is long overdue. Allow me to give you the rest of my name before anything. I'm Hikaru Kuchiki, Captain of the 6th Division of the Gotei 13 and head of the Kuchiki family. Welcome to the world of the Shinigami."


	3. Introductions

**NOTE: **_As said in the note on the first chapter, this is the same Bleach universe (and trust me, you'll see why I say that soon) but in a different time period. In response to the fact that Byakuya is gone, you will also see why later. I've planned out quite a few of the next chapters and I'm coming up with more every day, so expect to see some interesting coincidences/developments from the actual Bleach to the Bleach in this fanfic._

_Also, sorry for the delay, folks! I regret not finding the time to write another chapter, but I'll try to pump out one or two every week from now on. If I don't think I can get a chapter out during a week, I'll try my best to tell you._

Ayame didn't know what to think. This man, who could block bullets with a sword, catch punches powerful enough to destroy houses with his bare hands, just told her of something that she had never heard of once in her life. Shinigami... Death Gods...

Hikaru saw the look of utter confusion on Ayame's face. "Look," he whispered to her as he put his hand on her shoulder, "I know it's a lot to take in. But you'll have to believe me on this. That creature I just killed? It's called a Hollow. A lost soul that gave into despair and depression to become a spirit of hatred. Us Shinigami exist to dispatch them from this world so they don't threaten people like you."

Ayame shook his grip from her shoulder and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "_People like me!_ What do you mean? Am I special, am I different? Why am I being dragged in to all of this?"

"Yes, you are special, in a way that I can't quite explain at the moment," he replied. Hikaru turned around and sheathed his sword. "Sheesh, I'm no good with these things. I'll just have to show you. Take my hand."

"...Why?"

"Just do it. Explaining why would only bring up more questions. Look at it this way; if you don't, you'll be stuck in nothingness for all of eternity. Let's leave it at that."

"And where are you taking me? Why should I trust you?"

"I didn't save you twice just to betray you, Ayame. As to where I'm taking you – you'll see when we get there."

"Why should I go with you, wherever our destination might be?"

"Well, for a first, I doubt you want more of those Hollows coming after you while you're unprotected."

Ayame sighed. He was right. She still didn't quite want to grab his hand, but did it anyway. Hikaru smiled. "Get ready. Don't let go of my hand, no matter what," he said. Ayame nodded.

He turned away and stuck out his other hand, palm forward. An old, wooden Japanese door appeared out of thin air and opened, revealing an entire path of white light. Ayame realized that she hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of the "Shinigami" by meeting Hikaru and the hollow. There was a lot to learn, and she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to even know or be involved in any of it.

Hikaru stepped into the pathway of light, and Ayame followed. The door closed behind them, but not before a pitch black butterfly appeared at Hikaru's shoulder. It didn't seem all that trivial – after seeing all Hikaru could do and that hollow he mentioned, a black butterfly wasn't of much surprise to her. Then the entire world around them seem to twist and turn, heaving, as if being crunched down. In what seemed like an eternity, the pathway of light gradually transformed into a dark alleyway, with walls on both sides that were made of a strange purple goo that endlessly fell down into nothingness.

Hikaru explained, though Ayame was so dumbstruck that she could barely hear him. "This is the passageway that Shinigami use to get to the World of the Living," he elaborated, as Ayame stared at him as though he were speaking another language. "Earth, I mean. The World of the Living is the Shinigami term for Earth. Yeah, sorry about that. I still need to get used to this... anyway, this Hell butterfly," he continued, gesturing to the black butterfly nestled on his shoulder, "is the 'device' we use to bind us to this passageway. If a Shinigami doesn't have one a Hell butterfly side, they run the risk of being lost in a different dimension forever. That's why you have to keep hold of my hand, because my commander would rip my head off if he found out I lost you..."

Ayame didn't much care about Hikaru's head being ripped off at the moment, but she certainly cared about being lost in nothingness for eternity. She tightened her grip on Hikaru's hand until her knuckles turned white. Hikaru winced, but said nothing. He expected that kind of reaction after explaining such a thing.

"Now, enough talk. We need to hurry for reasons that I can't conceivably explain, because not even I fully understand them. Long story short, there's a – well, train, let's say – that comes through here. If you get caught by it, you're erased from existence. It's much more complicated than that, but there's the main jist. Now start running and don't let go of my hand no matter what."

Ayame did as she was told. She ran so fast that Hikaru had a hard time keeping up, and that's saying something, because he ran faster than anyone she'd ever known. Soon enough, they came across what looked like the end of the tunnel; light shone through an opening in front of them, clear as day. Ayame looked inquiringly at Hikaru, and he nodded. They slowly drew closer to the source of light, and finally stepped out...

The first thing Ayame saw in this new world was a tall, muscular man staring down at her. Hikaru then came through and immediately looked stern, controlled, and serious. "Sir!" he said in a solemn tone of voice. Sir? Ayame wondered. So this must be Hikaru's commanding officer...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the tall man in front of them speaking. He was dressed in a black kimono, and suddenly Ayame noticed that Hikaru and herself were as well. A katana hung down from the man's waist, just like Hikaru's, but there was something unusual about it. His katana seemed much larger than Hikaru's – not enough larger to be sheathed on the back – but large enough to notice the difference. And there was one other stunning feature that Ayame noticed as the man spoke, one that made him particularly unusual...

The man had orange hair.

"Good to see you made it back in once piece, Hikaru. I see you've done your job well. She's a bit bruised, but a well-performed mission, all-in-all." he said in a voice comparable to a typical eighteen-year-old's.

"Thank you, commander." Hikaru responded.

The man turned to Ayame. "Good to see that you're still in one piece, Ayame. Seems you're a bit... confused with everything happening around you. There is much to be explained, but all in due time. I imagine information from Hikaru alone has already left you reeling. Understandable. You should rest. Hikaru, take her to her quarters in the 6th Squad barracks. She looks like she needs rest and time to think."

If you were to give me all the time I wanted to rest and think about this, then you would be waiting for a year or so, Ayame thought to herself. The man was right, of course. Hikaru led her away, down a street lined with houses made of an odd stone. Hikaru's commander turned and stopped Hikaru before he could get too far away.

"A day should suffice," he told Hikaru. "Bring her here at this time tomorrow and we will see to an explanation of these events." Hikaru nodded and began to walk away, only to be stopped again. "One last thing, Hikaru."

"Yes?"

"I suppose an introduction is long overdue, Ayame. My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, Captain of the 1st Squad and leader of the Shinigami."


	4. Revelations

_Note: My deepest apologies for not updating this story regularly. No excuses this time, I simply just didn't get around to it. Again, I do this on the spare time I have that I haven't spent doing other things, so I can't guarantee any regularity in the releases of this story. I'll try my utmost to get one out every one or two weeks, but there's no guarantee._

_Happy belated New Years, Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever else people reading this celebrate!_

* * *

It was a confusing ordeal for Ayame. No, confusing would be an understatement. Her entire situation up to this point consisted of being rescued by a man with superhuman strength and agility, walking through a dimension between worlds, and being greeted by the commander of this superhuman in person. And, as if to make things any more inconceivable than they already were, she had little to no context about why this was happening in the first place. Why her? Why now? Who are these people? What is this place? There are so many questions to be answered, and she probably couldn't manage to comprehend the answers to half of them.

Ayame had since been led to what was supposedly the 6th Squad barracks was (whatever the 6th squad was) to rest and think about what was going on. She was dead tired, confused past all belief, had a searing headache, and was still sore from when Hikaru had saved her from the gang that would have done unspeakable things to her had he not intervened, yet she still couldn't get to sleep. True, it was midday, or it seemed like it, at least – you can't really tell when you're in a separate dimension, after all – but her body was screaming for rest and she just couldn't oblige. Ayame's mind was reeling from the events of the past two days, and between all of the things happening, it didn't seem to be able to process that her body wanted to sleep right now.

Her bed was laid against the left wall and was what you would expect an average, everyday person to sleep in – mattress big enough for one person, sheets, pillows and all. A nightstand with two scented candles stood to immediately to the right of the bed and lit the area around it adequately, whilst a cabinet stood opposite the nightstand – exceptionally pointless at the moment due to Ayame not having any other clothes with her – with a sheathed samurai sword propped up by a stand laying on top of the cabinet; probably a decoration of some sort. She found it quite curious that that these... Shinigami, as they called themselves, didn't seem to be one with modern times. They used candles instead of lamps or lights, their weapons consisted of samurai swords instead of guns, they didn't seem to have any electronic equipment like TVs or computers, and the entire city in which they lived looked alarmingly like feudal Japan. Maybe the separate dimension had something to do with it?

At this point, Ayame sincerely wished she could blank out her mind and just fall asleep, but there was far too much on her mind for it to be that easy. She simply couldn't get a grip on everything that had happened so far. And thus, with several hours of effort, she finally let herself fall into the deep, dreamless, uninterrupted sleep that she had wanted all day...

* * *

The next day, when Ayame awoke, the first thing she saw was Hikaru sitting on a chair likely dragged in from the lobby of the barracks. She gasped and rubbed her eyes to make sure it was real, but the image remained there.

"Is that you, Hikaru?" she whispered to the person that sat in her chair in a dreary and tired voice, maintaining the good sense that other people were most likely sleeping. This building isn't just hers, after all.

"Yes, it's me. Calm down." he responded.

"Pardon me, but can I ask what you're doing in my room? Not to be unappreciative of what you've done for me, but it's kind of... well, creepy."

Hikaru smiled. "Don't worry, it's not like I've been sitting here the entire time you were asleep. I just got here, actually, and it seems I have perfect timing as well. You do know you've been sleeping for two days, right?"

Ayame was shocked out of semi-consciousness. "What! Two days? But that means..."

Hikaru read her mind. "Don't worry. The Captain-Commander – that's the orange-haired man you met two days ago, by the way – suspected this would happen. You're to meet him in his office in about two hours."

"Two hours!"

"Yes, two hours. You had better get yourself ready. No need for formal clothing or anything, but I imagine there are hygiene-related things that need doing. The bathroom is directly to the left as you leave your room. I know we don't look modern at a first glance, but there's a fully working shower – or bath, if you so desire – to be had, along with the necessary soap and shampoo. The clothes from your house are in the cabinet, and don't worry, no one looked through them and stole certain pieces or anything. I'll return in two hours to take you to the Captain-Commander's office. He'll understand if you're not quite on time, but all the same, try your best to be ready by then."

And with that, Hikaru left before Ayame had a chance to say anything.

* * *

Two hours later, after a nice soothing bath and an almost extremely embarassing moment that involved some other guy trying to get into the bathroom, Ayame was sitting on her bed, waiting for Hikaru to arrive. She could've sworn that she heard that guy getting punched in the face, because the crack of a broken nose is pretty distinguishable at that volume. Ayame didn't know who punched the guy, because when she left the bathroom there was no one in sight, but she suspected Hikaru must have sent a guard of some sort.

Hikaru soon arrived with a smile on his face as usual, and held out his hand.

"You're probably used to this gesture by now, but take my hand. We're going to the Captain-Commander's office, but without all the walking."

Even though Hikaru had saved her life twice in less than a week, Ayame was still was reluctant to obey. But, at the same time, she knew she didn't really have a choice in the end, so she did as she was told.

"This might feel a bit weird. Don't let go. I doubt I need to explain why." Hikaru said to her as they left.

"Weird" was an understatement on Hikaru's part. If Ayame ever tried to imagine what having your entire body completely leave your consciousness and then slowly reappear felt like, it would probably be akin to how this trip felt. All the same, though, the "weird" feeling left her as soon as it had appeared, and next thing she knew, she was in an empty room with nothing but a desk planted in the middle, and at it sat the man from two days earlier. To her in left was a massive balcony overlooking the entire city. Hikaru stepped out in front of her and saluted.

"She has arrived, Captain-Commander." he said to the man at the desk.

"Excellent. Thank you, Hikaru." the man responded.

"I will take my leave now, sir."

"No, stay. You're the only person she knows in this odd world, and you've already been filled in on the situation. Perhaps you can fill in some blanks."

"Very well, sir."

The man at the desk turned to Ayame, his striking orange hair seemingly lighting up the otherwise fairly dark room.

"Good afternoon, Ayame. I know I have already introduced myself, but I suppose a second one is due. I am Kurosaki Ichigo, commander of the Shinigami. Please, sit." he said to her as he pointed to a velvet-cushioned chair beside his desk that Ayame hadn't noticed before. She obeyed, and Hikaru moved to stand directly next to Ichigo.

"Now, I imagine an explanation of what has happened up to this point is long overdue. First, allow me to welcome you to the Seireitei, home of the Shinigami. Our city is the center of all that goes on in the Shinigami world, and surrounding it is Rukongai, the village where all souls sent on by Shinigami arrive. This dimension as a whole is called the Soul Society." Ichigo started.

"Souls... sent on? What does that mean?" Ayame inquired.

"Allow me, Commander," Hikaru said. "Humans are curious, for obvious reasons, about what happens after death. Well, after humans die, their souls wander, and a Chain of Fate forms in their chest that slowly shrinks over time. Normally, a Shinigami would eventually come across this wandering soul a perform a "konso," thus allowing the soul to pass on to Soul Society and live in Rukongai. Some souls have enough innate Spiritual Energy – the power your soul possesses – to become Shinigami, and thus the cycle of new souls and new Shinigami continues..."

"Does this have anything to do with that monster that attacked us two days ago... what did you call it... a Hollow?" Ayame interrupted.

"I was just getting to that," Hikaru continued. "Normally, a soul will be allowed to pass on by a Shinigami, but in some cases, if the soul is not found, its Chain of Fate will completely disappear or the soul will simply give in to loneliness and despair. In these cases, the soul loses its heart and it becomes a Hollow, a monster bent on devouring other wandering souls in order to become stronger. The Shinigami exist to stop these monsters and to prevent them from forming, as well as allow other souls to pass on. The Hollow that attacked you was no ordinary one, however. It was a Menos Grande; an exceptionally strong Hollow that is created by hundreds – sometimes thousands – of Hollows grouping together and merging."

"But why would it want to attack me?"

Ichigo cut in. "Well, to be perfectly specific, it wasn't going for you, it was going for Hikaru..." he said, throwing a good glare at Hikaru in for good measure.

Hikaru shrugged. "What can I say? I forgot to mask my reiatsu."

"Reiatsu?" Ayame asked

"Spiritual Energy. The stronger your Spiritual Energy is, the more abundant your reiatsu is. These two things go hand-in-hand and are an effective way of measuring the power that a Shinigami has." Hikaru answered.

"Some are more powerful than others?" Ayame wondered.

"Of course. I myself am a Captain; the strongest types of Shinigami. We each command one of the 13 divisons of the Gotei 13, which is effectively the army of Shinigami. Lieutenants act as our second-in-command, relaying our orders to the other men under our command. There are dozens of other ranks that are dependent on the individual Shinigami's power. Our Captain-Commander used to be a human himself – the Subsitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. He is one of the most powerful Shinigami that the Soul Society has ever seen."

Ayame was dumbstruck. "You used to be human?" she asked Ichigo.  
"Yes, it's true. And to be perfectly honest, 'used to be' is an incorrect term. I'm not technically 'not a human,' since I haven't died on Earth yet. I simply traded my human body for a spiritual body in order to protect my friends and family. My human body simply couldn't accommodate all the power I held and often couldn't suffice in decisive battles where I was fighting powerful opponents."

"But wait," Ayame interrupted. "That means that at one point you were still human but fighting as a Shinigami... how is that possible? How did you attain Shinigami powers?"

"That is a long story, better told another day when more pressing matters aren't at hand. While we're on that subject, though, I suppose it's time you know why you're here." Ichigo replied.

"'While we're on that subject?' Do you mean that a human possessing Shinigami powers somehow pertains to me?" Ayame inquired.

"Actually, yes. You see, you're a lot like I was when I first found out I possessed Shinigami powers. There is much you have to learn about your past. Allow me to begin... did you know your parents?" Ichigo asked Ayame.

"Yes, I knew them. We originally lived in America, but when I was born, we moved to Japan. They never told me why, though..."

"That's because it was more convenient for them, and you. It was much easier to protect you while in Japan."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Shinigami's powers are strongest whilst in Japan, due to the close proximity to the main entrance to Soul Society."

"Are you saying my parents were Shinigamis?"

"Only one: your father. You're special, exactly like I was. You see, Ayame, you're the child of a human and a Shinigami."


	5. Welcome to the World of the Shinigami

_Note: That last chapter got me on a sort of roll, so to speak, so here's another chapter as a treat! Also, if chapters come out with any sort of regularity, it will most likely be over the weekends, due to me not having much time during the week because of school._

* * *

**Two Worlds – Chapter 5**

_a Bleach fanfiction by Blacktide_

**Midday, Soul Society.**

Ayame was speechless. She had lived a normal life up to this point. To suddenly find out that her family was a part of an entirely alien world wasn't something that made any sense in the context of her life. Her father didn't do anything out of the ordinary that would have suggested he was part of something like this. How could he have possibly been one of the people that she was looking at right now?

"A child... of a human... and a Shinigami?" Ayame stuttered, still in a state of absolute shock.

"That's correct." Ichigo answered in a calming and re-assuring voice. "I know it's hard to believe, but I swear on my life that it's the truth."

Ayame shook her head. "No... no, that can't be right," she continued. "My father couldn't have been one of you. It just doesn't make sense! He never did anything out of the ordinary..."

"It's a lot to take in, Ayame – trust me, I know – but it is not a lie. We wouldn't have brought you here otherwise. I know from firsthand experience that children of both a human and a Shinigami have enhanced power development rates. As an example, in the span of a year after first gaining my Shinigami abilities, my power had grown well beyond the level of a Captain, whereas it takes most Shinigami who have the necessary reiatsu levels hundreds, if not thousands, of years to reach that level of power. This is all the truth, Ayame, and nothing can change the fact that you are a special person." Ichigo responded.

It couldn't be true. It was inconceivable to Ayame. There was just no way she could possibly be a Shinigami...

Ichigo interrupted her thoughts. "I suppose you'll need proof of some sort. Rukia, if you don't mind..."

Suddenly a woman with long, black hair well below shoulder level appeared in the room. Her eyes were a dark shade of blue, almost violet, with a thin and well-shaped body. She was considerably shorter than Ichigo or Hikaru – about 5 and a half feet tall, Ayame reckoned just from a glance – who were both well above 6 feet tall. Despite her small stature, however, there seemed to be a commanding and stern aura about her that Ayame couldn't quite put a finger on. She wore a black kimono, and had what looked to be a badge of some sort tied to her left arm with a strip of cloth. Ayame noticed that she held a sword in her hands as well as wore a sheathed one on her waist. The sword she held in her hands seemed strangly familiar...

"I brought the sword as you instructed." the woman said as she handed the sword to Ichigo and kneeled before him.

"Thank you for your help, Rukia."

"By your leave, I must go and oversee efforts with..." the woman named Rukia began, and then cut off, no doubt because Ayame was in room. "...with our 'situation." she finished.

"Go on. Report back to me immediately if we uncover anything," Ichigo replied, clearly understanding what Rukia was speaking of. "Hikaru, assist her, if you would. I'll take things from here."

"Yes, sir!" Rukia and Hikaru said simultaneously.

And with that, they disappeared into thin air, and Ichigo turned to face Ayame, holding out the sword in front of him. "Ayame, do you recognize this sword?" he asked.

Ayame was still quite shocked by the revelations of earlier, but she responded nonetheless. "It looks familiar, if that counts..."

"I'd say the reason it looks familiar is because you saw it on a stand on top of your cabinet this morning?"

The memory slowly coming back to her, Ayame realized that this sword was in fact the same one she saw that morning. "Now that you mention it, it is... how did you know?" she inquired.

"I'm afraid that would be better explained after you learn that what has been said is not a lie," Ichigo replied. "Take this sword," he continued, gesturing for Ayame to take it. "Trust me. You'll see soon enough."

Between all that was going on, the last thing Ayame wanted to do was be dragged into all of this. If this truly was to prove everything that had happened up to this point, then Ayame would rather not know the truth. But some fiber of her being wanted to know the truth, and it urged her hand to move forward. It seemed like an eternity, but the tips of her fingers finally touched the hilt, and eventually her entire hand grasped the sword.

* * *

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then the world around her transformed. She found herself on top of a stone tower easily hundreds of feet tall, and as she looked around her, she saw that this tower was merely in a corner of a massive Medieval Era castle located on the edge of an arbitrary peninsula surrounded by clear, blue water as far as the eye could see. And, across from her in this strange tower, stood a man.

The man was completely dressed in black, with a hood over his head, completely hiding his facial features. A bright white sash hung from his waist, completely contradicting the rest of his clothing. He wore dark brown leather boots and gloves that extended up to his knees and elbows, respectively.

"Greetings, Ayame." the man said, though it hardly sounded like the man was speaking. Instead, a voice seemed to come from every direction, as if the world itself was speaking to Ayame.

"Who... who are you? How do you know my name?"

"Everything you see around you, Ayame, is your soul. This castle, the ocean, the peninsula that we sit on... everything. I am a fragment of your soul that takes the form of a weapon. I am the sword that recently held. I am called a Zanpakuto – all Shinigami possess one. Our powers vary based on our owners' souls, and our appearance is based on our powers. I am your Zanpakuto, Ayame."

Even though it was resoundingly clear with this new revelation, Ayame still couldn't accept that she was a Shinigami. "_No! That isn't possible! I'm not a Shinigami!" _she screamed, tears falling from her eyes.

"Accept it, Ayame! I am the embodiment of your soul! I know just as well as you do that lying to yourself will get you nowhere! No amount of denial will help if the evidence is standing right in front of you! You know everything about yourself now, Ayame. Leave in the middle and you will be haunted for the rest of your life. If you are afraid of me... of your power... of your kin... then you _will _die."

The tears kept coming, but the message had gotten across. There was no going back. She knew. She knew it all. Fear or denial won't work. Whether she liked it or not, she was a Shinigami, and there was nothing to do but accept it.

Her sobbing slowly stopped, and the tears stopped forming as the final realization came to her that it was nothing to be afraid of. She finally drew the strength to ask, "What is your name... Zanpakuto?"

"My name, Ayame, is..." the Zanpakuto began to reply, but as he muttered his name, Ayame left the world she was in and slowly returned to consciousness.

* * *

Upon waking up, she found that she had fallen out of her chair. Ichigo was kneeled beside her and helped her up as she stumbled into it, breathing heavily.

"Well? Is that enough?" Ichigo asked.

Ayame looked up at Ichigo, her eyes wet from crying, even though she had only been crying inside her soul. "...I don't exactly like it... but yes, that was enough. I am a Shinigami."

Ichigo smiled. "Excellent. While you were talking to your Zanpakuto, did you happen to catch its name?"

Ayame couldn't help but wonder how Ichigo knew she had talked to her Zanpakuto, but then again, he wouldn't have handed her the sword if he didn't know what would happen.

"No... he began tell me his name, but as the words left his mouth, I regained consciousness." she responded.

"Not surprising. Your stature as half-human and half-Shinigami grants you higher developmental rate, but communicating with and learning the name of your Zanpakuto will still require some training; and, speaking of which, first thing tomorrow, you're to report to the Technological Institute for preliminary training. With luck, you will be able to hone your skills quickly enough to be of use in the battle ahead." Ichigo said.

"What battle?" Ayame asked.

"That's best left for later. I imagine this past hour has provided enough surprises for the day."

Ayame looked down at her sword, and was surprised to see that the once nondescript hilt was now wrapped in a pure, white cloth.

"I see you've noticed the hilt of your blade. Very interesting. You are the first Shinigami I have seen with a Zanpakuto that possesses a hilt wrapped in white cloth while in its unreleased state. I've heard stories, but never actually seen one in person." Ichigo observed.

"What do you mean?" Ayame inquired.

"The color of a Zanpakuto's hilt isn't just for aesthetic purposes; it reflects its owner in a multitude of ways. A red hilt represents courage and determination, for example. A white hilt, however, is a very rare phenomenon. For a first, Zanpakuto typically have a specific pattern on their hilt that is composed of two colors, like on my own Zanpakuto."

To demonstrate, Ichigo unsheathed his Zanpakuto and showed Ayame its hilt. Its main color was red, but running down the middle was a pattern of repeating white diamonds that ran all the way up to the guard where the blade itself started.

"Typically, Zanpakutos have white as one of the colors in the pattern, and then the other color varies depending on the owner's soul. To have a purely white hilt is something I have never seen before, and only have heard stories about." Ichigo continued.

"What does it mean?" asked Ayame, clearly curious as to where Ichigo was going with this.

"Well, I obviously can't be sure, but the legends say that a white hilt represents the owner's righteousness; a pure heart and soul. The more important part of the legend, however, is that a white hilt apparently means that the owner is destined for greatness... destined for a place in history."


End file.
